Updated on: June 12, 2026 / 8:06 PM EDT / CBS/AP
Alabama pushed forward with its plan to execute Jeffery Lee using lethal injection after the scheduled nitrogen hypoxia method execution was blocked. The Attorney General’s office sought permission from the Alabama Supreme Court to issue a death warrant for Lee following the ruling.
The state’s lawyers emphasized that the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) is restricted only from using nitrogen hypoxia, not from executing Lee by other means. A photograph released by the ADOC shows Lee, convicted of murdering two people during a 1998 pawn shop robbery.
A representative for Lee’s legal team stated they had no immediate comment on the state’s actions. Lee’s attorneys are expected to respond to the Alabama Supreme Court’s request. This situation escalated after Attorney General Steve Marshall pledged to pursue Lee’s execution.
The U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to remove an injunction barring Alabama from executing Lee using nitrogen gas. The federal court found the nitrogen protocol violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. While the injunction prevents the use of nitrogen gas, it does not preclude using lethal injection or the electric chair.
Scheduled for execution via nitrogen hypoxia at 6 p.m. CT on Thursday, Lee has been on Alabama’s death row since his conviction for the 1998 crimes.
During his trial, the jury recommended a life sentence, voting 7-2 against the death penalty. However, the judge employed a now-defunct practice known as “judicial override” to impose the death penalty. This legal maneuver placed numerous individuals on Alabama’s death row before its abolition in 2017.
Alabama maintains that its nitrogen gas method is a humane alternative to lethal injection. The latter, the primary execution method, has been criticized following multiple flawed executions. The legal battle over the nitrogen gas method is set for trial in 2027.